Interview With Willie Meggs, State Attorney for Leon County, On DeAndre Johnson Case

about 4 years ago

State Attorney Willie Meggs (Courtesy ESPN)

Friday Morning, July 10, I secured a short interview with Willie Meggs, the long tenured State Attorney for Leon County. Her jurisdiction includes the City of Tallahassee and as such, she makes the decision on whether to charge residents of the city, which includes athletes from Florida State University. As some may recall, it was her decision not to prosecute Jameis Winston, a decision for which she was widely reviled by many corners of sports and national media who chose to hide behind their interpretation of her “Lack of seriousness” at the press conference announcing the decision. Left out of that analysis, however, was her contemporaneous and aggressive sexual assault prosecution of starting wide receiver Greg Dent, as well as previous prosecutions of FSU football players.

In the wake of the De’Andre Johnson case, Meggs’ office again finds itself at the center of media discourse on gender violence. Johnson was involved in an altercation at a local bar on June 24 which ended with her striking a male patron to his face. In the interest of providing clarity for AVFM readers and the issues which concern our board, I wanted to get some answers from her office on key aspects of the case and, more importantly, the decision-making process in deciding who to charge, and with what.

To my pleasant surprise, Meggs graciously took my call herself. Her comportment was every bit the direct but courtly southern lady of law figure she cuts on television. Engaging, honest, friendly, firm, and quick-minded. She was quick to interject to correct where she felt we “had it wrong,” but never in a rude way.

The following are some key highlights of the interview

What are the potential penalties facing Ms. Johnson, and how are cases such as her usually disposed of for a first offender.

Meggs: Well, for 1st degree battery, the maximum penalty is a year in the county jail. Now, there are two types of battery in these cases. The first, is to touch or strike another without consent. The other is to strike with the intent to cause harm. Now it’s hard for me to say how cases typically are disposed because we weigh a variety of factors when charging: capability of the victim to defend; age; size; for example, how old are you?

Me: 42

Meggs: OK, so if you hauled off and battered a six-year-old, we’d put your fannie in jail [laughs on both ends of the call]

Speaking of children, some of our readers and staff feel based on the footage that maybe the man should have also been charged, based on the footage, because they were both “acting like children”[Meggs firmly but politely interjects]

Meggs: Well, you’re wrong on that. Now it’s not illegal to be wrong, and everyone has a right to be wrong, and that includes (Johnson attorney Jose) Baez (who said the footage shows Johnson was not the “initial aggressor”), Sean Hannity, and even your editorial board. But those are not the facts of the case as we see it. People have a right to defend themselves from a battery

In your eyes, with regard to the charging decision, what was the initial “battery” by Johnson?

Meggs: Hitting someone in the nose

I meant before that. You stated he was defending himself from a battery. Which of the initial acts constituted a battery? Was it the initial jostle? Her grabbing his arm to prevent his closed fist from hitting her? And what is a proportional response to the threat from a balled fist?

Meggs: We’re not gonna try the case in the papers, We’re gonna try the case in a court of law. Some may want to try the case in outside of court, but that’s not what we’re going to do.

On an editorial note, it’s my opinion you were treated unfairly by the national media in the Winston case. If you were the Florida St. toadie they made you out to be, you would not have charged the 7 or 8 athletes you have in the past.

Meggs: Well I appreciate that. It’s part of what I’ve come to expect with the job. Not to say that I like it, but I understand. You know, when we have a football player [get into trouble] I like to say it’s like putting a spoonful of scalding hot soup in your mouth;whatever you do next is gonna be wrong.

UPDATE: Yet another Florida State player is wanted in connection with another assault on a man in a separate incident. Meggs has issued a warrant for the arrest of running back Dalvin Cook. The report from mark Schlabach is here.